The new plague - insatiable - FAQ | Plague | CDC

Plague, a bacterial disease found in rodents, is usually transmitted to humans through bites from infected fleas or by direct contact with infected animals, like rodents, wildlife and pets. Symptoms include fever, chills, headache, weakness and painful swollen lymph nodes. Proper treatment and antibiotics greatly reduce the risk of death.

If you think you or your pet may have the plague, seek medical attention immediately. Prompt diagnosis and treatment with antibiotics can greatly reduce the fatality rate in people and pets.

The organization says around the house clean up areas where rodents live like wood and brush piles, junk and abandoned vehicles. They also suggest putting wood, hay and compost as far away from your home as possible.

The CDC notes that in the ., bubonic accounts for more than 80 percent of plague cases. Bubonic plague is also the kind that most people think of when they think “plague,” and involves swollen, painful lymph nodes (called “buboes”.)

Once a rodent is infected, the illness can spread to wild carnivores that eat it, or to cats, dogs and people that come within flea-jump range.

"What we see in the West here is the fleas will crawl up to the
entrance of the burrow and wait for a host to come by," Gage told
NPR. "If they get on another rodent that they can live on, then
they've been successful. But they can also jump on humans, or on
dogs or coyotes or cats, which aren't the right hosts, but
unfortunately those animals can be bitten by the fleas and get
plague."

Although plague can be treated with antibiotics, the disease can still be life-threatening if treatment is not administered in time.

Plague can be successfully treated with antibiotics. Once a patient is diagnosed with suspected plague they should be hospitalized and, in the case of pneumonic plague, medically isolated. Laboratory tests should be done, including blood cultures for plague bacteria and microscopic examination of lymph node, blood, and sputum samples. Antibiotic treatment should begin as soon as possible after laboratory specimens are taken. To prevent a high risk of death in patients with pneumonic plague, antibiotics should be given as soon as possible, preferably within 24 hours of the first symptoms.